Tridentine Mass: the traditional Mass that was codified
through the Council of Trent (1545-63) - hence the name, Tridentine, meaning "of
Trent" - by St. Pope Pius V as the standard liturgy in the Western Church. It
does, however, go back in its essentials to St. Pope Gregory the Great (590-604)
and beyond.

Novus Ordo Missae(New Order of Mass):
the new liturgy as introduced in 1969 by Pope Paul VI. It was a radical re-write
of the previous Roman rite (the Tridentine Mass), performed by the
Consilium (liturgical committee) after the Second Vatican Council
(1962-65).

Cranmer: Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556) was the apostate
Archbishop of Canterbury who destroyed the Catholic faith in England through
liturgical change according to his Protestant views. He introduced two main new
liturgical books: the 1549 service that was a compromise between the Catholic
rite before and a fully-blown Protestant service, and the 1552 service that
truly embodied his Protestant beliefs. He was burnt at the stake during the
reign of Queen Mary of Tudor, convicted of heresy (a capital crime at that
time).

The Sarum rite: The Sarum rite was a usage of the Roman
rite as celebrated in England until the Reformation. Essentially, it is the same
as the traditional Roman rite (codified as the Tridentine Mass), but with local
variations due to regional customs and traditions.

The Tridentine Mass

1. Entitled "The Mass"

The Novus Ordo Missae

Cranmer entitled his 1549 service: "The Supper of the Lord and the Holy
Communion commonly called the Mass". The Novus Ordo Missae was
entitled "The Lord's Supper or Mass" in the original Article 7. The term
"Lord's Supper" is still included in the revised Article 7.

2. Celebrated in Latin.

Cranmer's Lord's Supper celebrated in the vernacular.
The Novus Ordo Missae celebrated in the vernacular.

3. Much of the Mass said inaudibly.

Cranmer's service one of public praise and thanksgiving
and therefore said audibly. Novus Ordo Missae said audibly
throughout.

4. Celebrated on an eastward-facing altar.

Cranmer's service celebrated on a table facing the people.
Novus Ordo Missae celebrated on what is clearly intended to be
a table facing the people.

5. The Psalm Judica me, unacceptable to Protestants
in virtue of its reference to the "altar of God".

6. Double Confiteor distinguishes between priest
and people, which is unacceptable to Protestants as is the invocation of
saints.

Cranmer abolished the Confiteor (Cranmer's Godly
Order p. 101).The double Confiteor has been suppressed in
the Novus Ordo Missae thus blurring the distinction between priest
and people. A truncated Confiteor invoking the angels and saints is
included as an option but other penitential rites containing no such
invocation and thus completely acceptable to Protestants are
provided.

7. The prayer Aufer a nobis evokes Old Testament
sacrifice with its reference to the Holy of Holies which the High Priest
entered to offer the blood of the sacrificial victim.

Suppressed in the Novus Ordo Missae.

8. The prayer Oramus te, Domine refers to
the relics in the altar stone.

The use of an altar stone is no longer obligatory for
movable altars or when Mass is celebrated outside a consecrated building.
An altar stone is only "commended" for permanent altars (Institutio
Generalis 265-6). The prayer has been suppressed in the Novus Ordo
Missae.

Comparable prayers in the Sarum rite suppressed by Cranmer
(Cranmer's GodlyOrder, pp. 101-2). All these prayers
suppressed in the Novus Ordo Missae but for an extract from the
Deus, quihumanae and the In spiritu humilitatis (see
p. 322).

11. Orate fratres.

Suppressed by Cranmer and suppressed by the
Consilium in the draft for the Missae Normativa. Restored as
a result of pressure at the 1967 Synod in Rome (see p. 324).

12. Secret Prayers (Proper of the Mass).

These prayers often contain specifically sacrificial
terminology. They were abolished by Cranmer but have been retained in the
Novus Ordo Missae though frequently emasculated in the ICEL
translations. As these prayers do not form part of the Ordinary they do
not provide an obstacle to achieving an ecumenical Ordinary.

13. Sursum corda dialogue Preface,
Sanctus.

Retained by Cranmer.Retained in Novus Ordo
Missae.

14. Roman Canon.

Abolished by Cranmer.Retained as an option in the
Novus Ordo Missae, which also contains a Canon (Eucharistic Prayer
II) which some Protestants consider acceptable. It makes no distinction
between priest and people and does not include the word "Hostia"
(victim).

15. The Consecration Formula.

This was considerably modified by Cranmer and the Novus
Ordo Missae has incorporated his most important modifications. This
was demonstrated in Chapter XV which examines Canon II in
detail.

16. The prayer Libera nos after the Pater
noster.

Luther and Cranmer abolished this prayer, owing to the
invocation of saints at its conclusion.A modified version has been
retained in the Novus Ordo Missae with no invocation of
saints.

17. Haec commixtio.

A version of this prayer in the Sarum Missal was abolished
by Cranmer. A modified version of the prayer has been retained in the
Novus Ordo Missae but with the significant omission of the word
"consecratio."

18. Domine Jesu Christe, qui dixisti.

This prayer did not occur in the Sarum rite but contains
nothing to which a Protestant could object beyond the words "ne
respicias peccata mea" in which the priest asks forgiveness for his
personal sins. This is another prayer distinguishing between the priest
and layman, and in the Novus Ordo Missae "peccata mea" has
been changed to "peccata nostra" - "our sins."

19. Domine Jesu Christi, Fili Dei and Perceptio
Corporis tui.

Modified versions of these prayers are included in the
Novus Ordo Missae, one of which the priest says in his personal
capacity before Communion. It is a matter for some satisfaction that such
a prayer is included. Too much significance should not be attached to to
use of realistic language regarding the Real Presence in these prayers. It
was primarily sacrificial language which the Reformers wished to
eliminate. They were able to reconcile the use of language apparently
expressing belief in the Real Presence with their own theories e.g.
Cranmer's prayer cited in Cranmer's Godly Order, p. 108.

20. The Communion Rite(a) Communion given to the laity
under one kind.

(a) Communion given under both kinds in Cranmer's
service.The occasions when this is done in the Novus Ordo
Missae are multiplying. It is already permitted at all Sunday Masses
in the U.S.A. (see Chapter XXI).

(b) Traditional style altar breads.

(b) the relevant rubric in Cranmer's 1549 rite states that
altar breads should be: "unleavened, and round, as it was before, but
without all manner of print, and something more larger and thicker than it
was, so that it may be aptly divided in two pieces, at the least, or more
by the discretion of the minister." Article 283 of the General
Instruction reads: "Bread used for the Eucharist even though unleavened
and of the traditional shape, ought to be made in such a way that the
priest, when celebrating with a congregation, can break it into pieces and
distribute these to at least some of the faithful."

(c) The Host is placed on the tongue of the kneeling
communicant by a priest.

(c) Cranmer retained all three traditional practices in
his 1549 rite but in the 1552 rite Communion was given in the hand to
signify that the bread was ordinary bread and the priest did not differ in
essence from a layman (see p. 464).Communion is now given in the hand
in almost every Western country (though not Poland or Italy) but the
Novus Ordo Missae has outcranmered Cranmer by allowing communicants
to stand and received from a lay minister.

21. Quod ore sumpsimus and Corpus
tuum.

The explicit references to the Real Presence included in
these prayers would not commend them to Protestants, although Luther felt
able to retain them owing to his theory of consubstantiation. The Quod
ore was not in the Sarum Rite, but the corpus tuum was, and
Cranmer suppressed it. Both were suppressed in the New Mass, but the
Quod ore was subsequently restored.

22. Placeat tibi.

The Placeat tibi was a bete noire for
Protestants (see Cranmer's Godly Order, p. 109).This prayer
alone would have rendered the Novus Ordo Missae unacceptable to
them had it been retained. Following the example of Luther, Cranmer, and
other Reformers, the Consilium suppressed this prayer.

23. Last Gospel

There is nothing in the Last Gospel incompatible with
Protestantism but its retention in the Novus Ordo Missae would have
clashed with the pattern of Protestant Communion services which conclude
with a blessing. The Consilium suppressed it.

24. Leonine Prayers

The prayers after Mass do not form part of the Ordinary
itself but in practice appeared as an integral part of the liturgy. Five
prayers less compatible with Protestantism would hardly be imagined. They
have been suppressed by the Consilium.